16 Weeks

We are having a baby, and it still hasn't set in. Look at my girl! She's so cute!!!!!! That's my baby in there! She finally looks pregnant, which she is so excited about. I can not say how much I love this girl...my beautiful Jennifer.

Portland Marathon!!

As you all know Neil and I completed the Portland Marathon two weeks ago!! It was very difficult for us towards the end of the race! But.....we finished! We ran it in 4 hours and 45 min. I believe the hardest part of the race was running from miles 20 through 26. Luckily there was tons of water, a Gatorade type drink, and few snacks offered along the way to keep us replenished and energized. We are already ready for out next challenge which we believe is going to be the Vancouver Marathon in May!

There were race photographers who took our picture along the way and here is one that we purchased.

There are more photos available but we are not sure if we are going to buy them because of the price however you are welcome to check them out if you would like at:

www.portlandmarathon.org click on the photos section and either type in bib # 5046 or 5047.

Thanks Rod and Signe for coming and rooting us on! It was so fun to have family to share the adventure with!

We cant wait to see everyone for Christmas!!!

Love,

Jen :)

Labor Day Weekend!

This weekend was so relaxing and great to see family! We headed over the mountains to Seattle with Tyler! It was fun to carpool and made the time pass. We left on friday and just got back late last night.

Friday was spent relaxing after a long drive home by eating a delicious dinner of flank steak and was topped of with homemade molasses cookies!

On Saturday Neil and I went for our long jog (14 miles) and then had a fun trip down to Seattle with Rod and Signe to Starbucks new independant coffee shop called, 15 Avenue Coffee and Tea, on Capital Hill. This coffee shop was amazing and you would not be able to tell that is was starbucks in diguise. The decor was very urban and inviting. The experience was so fun! You walk in to see an assortment of different coffee beans that you can choose from. From there you pick which coffee beans you would like to try and they scoop it right there to make your custom coffee! All of the pastries that we tried were delicious and unique to this particular store with nothing I have ever seen at Starbucks!

When you guys come visit we will have to take you there!

This is the website. Check it out! http://www.streetlevelcoffee.com/

The rest of the weekend was very relaxing and spent hanging out with my own (Jen's)family. I hope that everyone else had a very enjoyable time for their labor day weekend! Cant wait to hear about it.

Goodbye for now!
Jen:)

p.s. pictures to come soon!

Our Weekend Trip to Pullman

This weekend Neil and I had planned on going on a camping trip in Northern Idaho....when we showed up to the camping spot early saturday morning we were disapointed by the sad display of a campground. So instead of being disapointed for the rest of the weekend we decided to turn it into a spontaneous trip down to Pullman to visit Tyler! It was quite fun and it was a little interesting considering we only had our camping gear with us! Saturday night we grilled burgers out on tyler's porch of his new apartment and they turned out delicious. :) That night we hung out at his apartment and watched the newest batman movie, which was surprisingly quite good!
The next day we ventured around Pullman seeing the sights by runnning through the town. Jogging through an area is surprisingly a great way to get to know the city! That night before we headed home we went out to eat at an italian restaurant that had a special going for college students, at $5 dollars a plate for a spaghetti dinner which included salad, breadsticks, and a beverage. It ended up being a decent place, I think we might go there again the next time we go down and visit Tyler!

We had a great weekend even though we werent able to go camping!

Jen :)

Spring Break

So I want to let you know about spring break. Jen and I are leaving to come home to the Seattle area on the 17th of March. On the 18th and 19th I will be taking Jennifer up to Cama Beach State Park to stay sea side in a cabin for two nights. The cabin is only $23 a night which is perfect for us newly weds in college! The goal is to relax and have some alone time in the greatest place on earth: the beautiful pacific North West. We are bringing our own food and grill but in the morning we are planning on going out to a little coffee shop called Scandia which is a coffee shop dedicated to preserving the Norwegian heritage in Stanwood. For lunch one day we may go by Matt and Rachel's coffee shop.
On the 20th we will go home to celebrate Tyler's (my little bro for those who don't know us) 20th Birthday! We will also be going home to Mars Hill Church for Sunday, which we are looking forward to soooooo much! We miss our church, our family and our city. We will always go where ever God may send us, but we pray that he send us to Seattle for good.

What we want to do when we grow up!

Recently I was watching a video posted by Mark Driscoll about the movement that has recently begun. I am slightly upset that this has already begun and that I am not part of leading it yet. I am glorifying Jesus that great things are happening in his name! I want to be a pastor such as Driscoll or John Piper or C.J. Mahaney so badly that I almost tear up when Jennifer and I hear of opportunities that I cannot be part of because of my position in life and my current location. I want to be a major leader in developing this movement and bringing Jesus to the end of the world. If you would like to understand Jennifer and I in terms of what we want to do when we graduate then please watch this in its entirety. This is it: limited but concise. I get such an adrenaline high that in order not to have anxious melt down or emotional meltdown I must work out, pray and at times recite scripture aloud to calm myself down. If this clip brings tears to your eyes than you understand the desire and freakish drive Jesus instilled in my heart. I am so thankful to be a part of this movement even in the small way that I am. (Matt. 9:35-38)

Jesus Knows What Should We Do?

The other day we discovered that Jennifer and I could graduate by next fall and not have to survive another hellish winter in Spokane. Originally, we had planned to move a little faster than usual and graduate by the end of Winter 2010 but that would mean another winter in Spokompten. Really, the best seasons are Fall and Spring over here because they are most like the Pacific Northwest weather we so love. We disused the idea and mapped out a strategy in order to accomplish it. What it would take is for me to take 20+ credits a quarter. That is 4+ classes, which I could do it but the stress would be high and could have a toll on our relationship. I have, by the grace of God, which was and is received by faith in Jesus Christ and his death and Resurrection, outperformed even my own expectations as far as success in my classes. Unfortunately, as Jennifer and I discussed the option of graduating by Fall 2009, she helped me realize that I tend to want to move rather quickly.
I do not believe that moving quickly is bad; in fact, I truly believe that the fast eat the slow and that success often depends on our ability not just to outperform but to move fast, strong, and hard. Yet, just as if I were running a race, I still need to pace myself. Jennifer mentioned that I might not perform as well, which could lead to despair, anxiety (which I am prone to) or my needing to retake classes (which would actually slow us down).
I also came to realize that my rush could be outside of the will of God. As a reformed Christian, I often tell people that judging the will of God is not too difficult. I say it that way because a within the reformed tradition we do not necessarily wait for voices in our head but instead judge by more subtle and important signs. We most often can discover it through reading scripture and prayer to guide our hearts (1 Tim. 3:16). We also judge by your deepest desires, for example, I know I want to be a pastor because I get high off of talking about and writing about and debating about and reading about and listening to sermons about Jesus and the Bible. In fact, I love those things so much that I am almost antisocial in my drive to spread the word of Jesus on campus, because I fanatically, frantically, and adamantly freakishly speaking out about Jesus! Logical conclusion from scripture is that I received those desires from God (Psalm 37:4; 1 Peter 1:21-2:3).
Secondly is by the wise council of those who love us most and only want what is best for us. Not just that but those who call us to repentance and speak to us out of a Bible saturated and godly wisdom (meaning we should listen primarily to those who have their noses in the Bible and humility in their hearts). What my beautiful bride pointed out was that essentially God has moved us here, and we believe we are learning from Him such things as faith, dependence upon Him alone, independence as a couple and humility. He is also trying to teach us that our joy is rooted in Him alone and is independent of location, life circumstance and life situation/occupation. She pointed out that such a frantic drive to graduate at the cost of out own joy and relationship is directly opposed to the will of God. That essentially, like Jonah, we would be running from His will and the situation in which He has placed us. We would be running so fast and hard that God may not be able to prepare us for life in ministry or my own career the way He intends to. For example, I want to do an internship, take a class on writing (specifically research books), a class on public speaking to mass audiences, a class on leadership w/in complex organizations, and a class on creating cultural change. If I attempted to graduate too early, I will not be able to do half of those things. In addition, I need to savor this time in my life and use it to spread Jesus to a people bound for eternity apart from Him.
Can we ultimately change the will of God? No, if you do something contrary to His desire, he still has a plan for how to use you, he knew it would happen and he created you anyway and let you do it. The Bible says he foreknew you before the creation of the world (1st Peter 1:1-2; Rom. 8:29, 11:2). Do not think you are outside of the will of God...ever. God is God, and He is Sovergne. John Piper said it well, both sin and evil, good and benevolence are all used by God to accomplish His good will. His will for example was to create people and then save them from themselves by dyeing on the cross. To paraphrase John Piper, To speak of God's supreme sovereignty is to say that He does not suffer that which He does not will. On the other hand, can you disobey God? Yes, as strange as this may sound, although God is in control, he allows us freedom to interact with His will. By graduating in fall, we would be. We will trust in God to prepare us for a future with Him, doing His ministry, and obeying His living word.
In future posts, I, Neil, will explain the will of God in our life’s better. How we have failed to follow Him, but how He was faithful in providing and protecting us. We are so happy to have discussed this, prayed about this and followed God's lead on this. We are so thankful for the grace God has provided us in this and will seek only to honor Him in all we do. Please be praying for us as I seek full time ministry. Pray also that we may continue to live in repentance, prayer, and scripture. Lastly I am going to be applying for a job in 2-3 quarters, be praying that I am not anxious, which is a sin (Phil. 4:6) but instead that I understand and follow the will of my God and savior Jesus Christ.

Welcome to our blog!

Hello everyone this is Neil and Jennifer's blog. This blog will include what happens in our lives on a daily basis. I hope you guys will enjoy this. We hope to keep this up to date as a way of keeping in touch since so many of us live so far away.

Jennifer :)